This was a freebie for platinum members at Audible.com and it’s an “Original” so it’s not a simple reading of the book of the same title; it is acknowledged to be an adaptation. . I rarely read these but this sounded kind of interesting and it was, in its own way, and after getting used to it. The recording uses a main reader (Nick Offerman) as well as many voices like at a dinner party sometimes or in interviews at other times. That takes some getting used to.

I’m familiar enough with Twain’s writings (I won’t list what I’ve read), but I’ve never read a biography. And I’ve been to Hannibal Missouri, to New Orleans, all through Nevada and of course I’ve been all through San Francisco. The book felt like learning a bit more about an old friend.

*******Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens by (by Audible Originals and based on the book by Andrew Beahrs2010 / 338 pagesRead by Nick Offerman (and cast)/ 4h 27mRating: 8 / nonfiction (history) *******

The early chapters and sections deal with prairie chickens and raccoons and Huckleberry Finn. But the book as a whole it’s mostly about Twain’s conversion from his origins as Sam Clemons to the larger-than-life persona of Mark Twain, giant of American literature.

His riverboat days are fascinating and I did read Life on the Mississippi long ago. But some rather disturbing things about Twain and Native Americans in revealed Chapter 3 about the Nevada territory. And then comes his San Francisco days and very interesting food, like turtle soup in those days. His American-ness just is what it is (or was what it was) and the book gets fascinating.

And then there’s the real Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens and his real life. This is a pretty good recording when it gets down to it, but it’s NOT the book. It did get me interested in reading a good biography of Twain though.